The invention is drawn to the genetic manipulation of plants.
The physiological and metabolic state of plant cells directly influences the plant response to external stimuli. The plant response to disease includes a host of cellular processes to enable plants to defend themselves from pathogenic agents. These processes apparently form an integrated set of resistance mechanisms that is activated by initial infection and then limits further spread of the invading pathogenic microorganism.
The transformation of plants is a complex process. The process involves contacting cells with a DNA to be integrated into the plant cell genome. Generally, genetic transformation of eukaryotic cells is a random event. That is, the foreign DNA is integrated into the genome at random positions. Often several copies, or parts of copies, of the transforming DNA are integrated in a single position, and/or at different positions, resulting in a transformed cell containing multiple copies of the foreign DNA.
Because the metabolic state of the plant cell is instrumental in various processes, it would be beneficial to be able to influence the state of the cells. Accordingly, there is a need for genes and methods for altering the metabolic state of plant cells.
Compositions and methods for influencing the metabolic state of plant cells are provided. The compositions comprise poly ADP-ribose polymerase genes and fragments thereof, particularly the maize poly ADP-ribose polymerase gene. The genes or antisense constructions of the genes can be used to transform plant cells and alter the metabolic state of the transformed cell.
In this manner, transformed plants can be obtained having altered metabolic states. The invention has implications in enhancing disease resistance in plants and for methods of genetic transformation of plants.